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About
In the mid-1980s, the U.S. is poised on the brink of nuclear war. This shadow looms over the residents of a small town in Kansas as they continue their daily lives. Dr. Russell Oakes maintains his busy schedule at the hospital, Denise Dahlberg prepares for her upcoming wedding, and Stephen Klein is deep in his graduate studies. When the unthinkable happens and the bombs come down, the town's residents are thrust into the horrors of nuclear winter.
DVD / Blu-ray
May 18, 2004
Director
Producers
Music
Studio
ABC Circle Films
Keywords
nuclear war
refugee
refugee camp
isolation
radiation
cold war
nuclear radiation
darkness
post-apocalyptic future
chaos
hysteria
lawlessness
insanity
high school
delirium
environmental protection agency
kansas, usa
nuclear explosion
end of the world
nuclear holocaust
disaster
apocalypse
armageddon
anarchy
nuclear
nuclear threat
nuclear fallout
mushroom cloud
disfigurement
radiation sickness
catastrophe
revolver
nightmare becomes reality
world war iii
epa
mass destruction
emp
mass grave
mass killing
destroyed city
nuclear winter
psychotronic film
college campus
danger
Quotes
See all →Fear of Nuclear Threats and Human Vulnerability
Viewpoint Panel Following ABC Broadcast (November 20,1983)
Not being a nuclear specialists in any way, I’m scared. I’m scared because I know that what is imaginable can happen. I know that the impossible is possible. I’ve seen the film and while I was watching it, I had a strange feeling that I had seen it before, except once upon a time it happened to my people, and now it happens to all people. And suddenly I said to myself maybe the whole world strangely has turned ]. Everybody lives now facing the unknown. We are all, in a way, helpless. We are talking about nuclear arms, about the bomb with a capital B, a kind of divinity in itself. Unless those who know militarily what it means, we readers, writers, people... we don’t know what it all means. When I hear about a thousand bombs, megatons... I don’t have that kind of imagination. To me it’s an abstraction, but to me, what all this means is that the human species may come to an end, that millions of children may die simply because one person somewhere... And I am not so much afraid of the big powers. I’m afraid of the small nations. If not now, maybe 10 years from now or 20 or 50, a ] will get hold of nuclear weapons. He won’t hesitate. He will not have a discussion such as the one that we have here.
[[Judaism|Jewish; [Ruhollah Khomeini|Khomeini]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Promoting Dialogue on Nuclear Awareness and Responsibility
Viewpoint Panel Following ABC Broadcast (November 20,1983)
We live in a nuclear world by stressing that this is a plus sum game that we’re working on. There is a commonality of interests between the Soviets and the US to avoid the use of these weapons. That’s what that film shows. I totally disagree with those who say it’s a disservice to the nation to show the film. Not at all. It’s stimulating discussion on exactly the issue we ought to be discussing. There’s a million times the Hiroshima destruction power out there. We must ensure it not be used. It’s equally in the interest of the Soviet Union not to use it.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Cast
Full credits →J
Jason Robards
Dr. Russell Oakes
J
JoBeth Williams
Nurse Nancy Bauer
S
Steve Guttenberg
Stephen Klein
J
John Cullum
Jim Dahlberg
J
John Lithgow
Joe Huxley
B
Bibi Besch
Eve Dahlberg
L
Lori Lethin
Denise Dahlberg
A
Amy Madigan
Alison Ransom
J
Jeff East
Bruce Gallatin
G
Georgann Johnson
Helen Oakes
W
William Allen Young
Airman Billy McCoy
C
Calvin Jung
Dr. Sam Hachya
L
Lin McCarthy
Dr. Austin
D
Dennis Lipscomb
Reverend Walker
C
Clayton Day
Dennis Hendry
A
Alston Ahern
Cynthia
W
William Allyn
Professor
A
Antonie Becker
Ellen Hendry
P
Pamela Brown
Nurse
J
Jonathan Estrin
Julian French
